In Santa Barbara, California, online bill payments help city leaders fulfill key goals. Less reliance on paper bills and mail trucks helps the city meet its environmental and sustainability initiatives and reduce operating and material costs, Santa Barbara Finance Director Keith DeMartini told Smart Cities Dive. Not having to staff a bill-payment desk lowers labor costs, said the city’s Assistant Finance Director Lyndsay Maas. And encouraging constituents to pay online for everything from business licenses to summer camp fees is in keeping with the city’s forward-thinking philosophy, Maas said. So, when COVID lockdowns led more residents and businesses to turn to online bill payment rather than in-person or mail transactions, DeMartini saw an opportunity. The city had long accepted online credit card payments for some municipal bills, but the finance department began prioritizing online payments for a wider variety of bills and services. Today, Santa Barbara accepts online payments for utility bills, business taxes and licenses, permits, parking tickets, sewer inspections, harbor slips, summer camps, and parks and rec programs. “Out of our 18,000 business tax renewals, 82% are electronic,” DeMartini said. And 80% of the city’s utility payments are paid online or through autopay, text or automated phone systems, he said. Here’s what the Santa Barbara finance team, other local government representatives and industry experts recommend municipalities consider when developing or expanding their own online bill-payment systems. 1. Decide whether you need a payment-processing vendor. Some municipalities have robust information technology departments that can build a website to accept bill payments. But there’s more to online bill payments than that. Maas said Santa Barbara contracts with online payment vendor Neumo to handle complicated payments like utility user taxes, business tax administration, and parking and business improvement assessments. Neumo manages online payments and back-office work like sending out payment reminders,